Portugal

Portugal’s Prescription Drugs and Consumer Healthcare market development

Portugal’s Prescription Drugs and Consumer Healthcare industry is undergoing evolutions and changes, showing potential for the future of its market. 

With an area of about 92,200 km² and over 10.3 mil­lion inhab­i­tants, Por­tu­gal occu­pies most of the west­ern part of the Iber­ian Penin­sula. The Por­tuguese OTC and pharma mar­ket size is worth USD 4,1 bil­lion, which has become one of the drivers of the overall GDP growth.

The country has a 20.8% of share in health expenditure. 59.7% of the market share is in Rx medicines, 32.6% in Hospital medicines, and 7.7% in OTC medicines.

The OTC market is mainly comprised of digestive and intestinal remedies, skin treatment products, cardiovascular remedies, cough and cold, analgesics, vitamins and minerals, and cardiovascular remedies among others. 

The OTC and pharma industry contributed to Portugal´s economy through its innovation, direct production, revenues, and jobs, and indirectly through the value chain, it impacts. It creates around 10,000 direct jobs and around 40,000 indirect jobs including transportation and trade of pharmaceuticals.

Portugal invested  €91 Million Euros in 2019 to Research and Development of which 96% came from the country’s own funds. 

Portugal’s OTC and pharma industry lags behind the EU countries‘ markets. The share of GDP associated with this industry is half of that of Spain and a third less than Italy. However, the country has opportunities to grow in the future by innovating patient care, focusing on boosting prevention and diagnosis, increasing integrated patient care, and leveraging healthcare technology. Also by accelerating access to innovative medicines.

The consumer health and Rx industry in Portugal is growing and has the opportunity for expanding. If you want to take advantage of this growing market, Chameleon Pharma Consulting Group is here to assist you!